THE PAJAMA GAME
WARNER BROS., 1957 | COLOR (WARNERCOLOR), 101 MINUTES
DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS: GEORGE ABBOTT AND STANLEY DONEN SCREENPLAY: GEORGE ABBOTT AND RICHARD BISSELL, BASED ON THEIR MUSICAL PLAY, FROM BISSELL’S NOVEL 7½ CENTS SONGS: RICHARD ADLER AND JERRY ROSS CHOREOGRAPHER: BOB FOSSE STARRING: DORIS DAY (KATIE “BABE” WILLIAMS), JOHN RAITT (SID SOROKIN), CAROL HANEY (GLADYS HOTCHKISS), EDDIE FOY JR. (VERNON HINES), RETA SHAW (MABEL), BARBARA NICHOLS (POOPSIE), THELMA PELISH (MAE), JACK STRAW (PREZ), RALPH DUNN (MYRON HASLER), BUZZ MILLER AND KENNETH LEROY (DANCERS)
The new superintendent at a Midwestern pajama factory collides with, then romances, the head of the grievance committee.
Strange but true: a musical about a labor-versus-management struggle wound up as a Broadway smash and an exceptionally good film. For those seeking an ideal middle-of-the-road way to turn a show into a movie, have a look at this one.
Without being especially innovative, The Pajama Game was a near-perfect show for the mid-1950s. It had a believable plot, mostly engaging characters, songs that could fit the story yet stand alone, and swell choreography by Bob Fosse. All of those things made the trip to Hollywood (Burbank, actually), along with the Broadway director, George Abbott, and most of the original cast. The most conspicuous cast change was, in this case, a crucial factor. On the stage, Janis Paige had played the lead with guts, great timing, and a so-so singing voice. On film it was Doris Day, an outstanding singer who also possessed everything else the role needed.
Abbott, for his part, entered into a codirecting setup with film pro Stanley Donen, which meant that Donen essentially directed the film with occasional suggestions and comments from Abbott. This, for Donen, was a far more compatible situation than the occasionally tense times when he shared the director’s chair with Gene Kelly. The result was a version of the show slightly shortened (some songs and a ballet cut) and also skillfully opened up and subtly deepened. The one downside concerned some historical currents. Movie musicals had begun their split between the big Broadway blockbusters like South Pacific and the low-budget items with of-the-moment pop stars. A moderately sized item like The Pajama Game could not, for all its merit, fit in to such an equation, and its box-office performance was held to be a disappointment. Neither Day nor Donen made many more musicals.
Doris Day, John Raitt, Carol Haney
While The Pajama Game did not initially get the reception it deserved, there is nothing about it that isn’t buoyant, joyous, and completely delightful. This wasn’t a show that needed to be blown up for movies, nor outfitted with gimmicks, and the atmosphere is as realistic as the subject demands, with more stylization for sequences like “Hernando’s Hideaway.” With the casting of Day, the material acquired a depth that it had not really had on the stage. She was, by this point, as insightful and intuitive an actor as any working in film, and she inhabits the role so completely that a viewer can only be elated by her work, if regretful that she so seldom had opportunities like this and Calamity Jane. Raitt is every inch and decibel a fine leading man, and if Carol Haney relies too much on mugging in her comedy scenes, she’s pretty divine in “Steam Heat” and the other dance numbers. There is also, dance-wise, the fun of watching the bountiful Reta Shaw do a deft soft shoe with Eddie Foy Jr. Without any vocal dubbing, the cast does full justice to the show’s main hit, “Hey There,” and to all the other songs in this infectious score.
Donen and Abbott followed this with the film of the only other show written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, Damn Yankees. Again there was unusual fidelity to the material, and once more a movie name (Tab Hunter) came in for one of the leads. There were some terrific moments, but it was a more uneven show on the stage, and baseball did not seem quite as compelling on film as life in a garment factory. The Pajama Game remains the winner, and a musical to enjoy over and over.
“Once-a-Year Day”: Carol Haney
WHAT’S MORE
For stage stalwart John Raitt, this would be his one film role of any real size. Originally, Warners had thought of Frank Sinatra, who turned it down, and then Bing Crosby, who wanted too much money. Abbott favored Marlon Brando, despite his rather controversial performance in Guys and Dolls. Day, for her part, wanted Dean Martin. Finally, Raitt made one screen test on the East Coast and another in California with Day, and wound up pleasing everyone.
Two main assets of the film are its swift pace and its modestly scaled production, both of which came from making virtue out of necessity. According to Donen, the studio had so little belief in the project that it “didn’t care if it got made or not.” Consequently, there were no frills and a shooting schedule so rushed that, as Raitt later quipped, “I never had time to sit in the canvas chair that had my name on it.”
“7 ½ Cents”: Jack Straw, Barbara Nichols, Thelma Pelish, Doris Day
MUSICALLY SPEAKING
With musicals venturing increasingly off the soundstage and out into the world, it was an easy decision for Donen and Fosse to spend a week shooting “Once-a-Year Day” in Hollenbeck and Griffith Parks in Los Angeles. With Haney, other cast members, and eighty dancers, this sequence is a perfect summation of why this movie works: it’s creative, filled with bright-colored exuberance, and just plain fun.
“There Once Was a Man”: Doris Day and John Raitt